[Day 3] Gartner Sales & Marketing Conference Daily Digest

by | Oct 11, 2018 | Product Marketing, Sales

HomeBlogSales[Day 3] Gartner Sales & Marketing Conference Daily Digest

Wow, what a conference. Day 3 was short and sweet, so this post will be too. I’ll leave you all with five key takeaways, one anti-key takeaway, and 10 of my favorite quotes/stats I gathered throughout all three days here in Las Vegas. Then I promise to leave you and your inbox alone… until my next campaign, at least.

Key Takeaways:

  • Buying difficulty has commercial consequences.
  • Customers are looking for information, not conversations. They want the conversation for the sake of information.
  • B2B buying isn’t linear – it’s about completion, not progression.
  • Customers are channel agnostic when it comes to job completion.
  • Suppliers must deploy Buyer Enablement through both sales and marketing channels for all buying jobs.

Anti-Key Takeaway:

Brent Adamson made sure to right a wrong in his closing keynote. The same quote was posted throughout the conference on social media: “Brent says, ‘Your customers want a seamless experience!'” Firstly, Brent wants us to know Brent did not say that! Secondly, customers don’t want an experience; customers want help. Lastly, it’s not that customers want a seamless experience, it’s that customer do go to multiple channels to find the help they need. They are seeking information, and it’s in our best interest as a supplier to make that process easier.

My Top 10 Quotes/Stats (in no particular order):

  1. “There are fewer opportunities for sales to communicate potential value.” (Scott Collins, VP of Advisory at Gartner)
  2. “How do we win the right to get more time with our customers? We’ve got to provide more value. We have to give our customers a reason to talk to us in the first place.” (Brent Adamson, Distinguished VP of Advisory at Gartner)
  3. “What are you going to say that customers haven’t figured out on their own?” (Brent Adamson)
  4. “How can we start showing up as learn-it-alls instead of know-it-alls?” (Rick Sirois, Director of Business & Operations Program Management at Microsoft)
  5. “When data and stories are used together, audiences are affected both intellectually and emotionally.” (Jennifer Aaker, Behavioral Psychologist, Author and Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business)
  6. “How many of you use PowerPoint?” **Almost the whole audience raises their hand.** “Okay, that’s a problem!” (Jennifer Aaker)
  7. “People always ask, ‘Well, how do I know what’s hard for my buyer?’ …Ask them!” (Brent Adamson)
  8. “What factors slowed down your B2B purchase?” 28.81% answered “difficulty showing ROI.” (Showpad Study)
  9. “Which tools, if they were available, would accelerate buying decisions?” 44.05% answered “ROI analysis or calculator.” (Showpad Study)
  10. The #1 reason sales don’t make quota: Inability to articulate unique value. (SiriusDecisions Study)

Start Building Your Buyer Enablement Stack:

Talk to Us!

Blog Signup

Subscribe to the Value Strategies Blog today

Skip to content